You can’t have the Sundance Film Festival without the Slamdance Film Festival. The sister festival offers cinephiles an alternative to the starrier, more monied proceedings in Park City, showcasing truly independent movies that (mostly) don’t feature big stars or big directors. And looking at their competition lineup for 2016, that mandate hasn’t changed.

In fact, the biggest “star” among all the films is Rinko Kikuchi, who leads the drama “Last Summer.” But otherwise, it’s a slate of films with the potential to break out, or highlight previously under-the-radar talent, which is always an exciting proposition. Sundance may have the A-listers, but Slamdance has those whose big red carpet moments are yet to come.

The festival runs from January 22-28, 2016. Check out the competition lineup below. [Variety]

NARRATIVE FEATURES PROGRAM

All the Colors of the Night – Director: Pedro Severien; Screenwriter: Luiz Otávio Pereira(Brazil)Iris wakes up in her spacious seafront apartment, discovers a body in the living room and enlists the help of other women, setting off a spiral of redemption in an atmospheric drama of dark imagery and questionable reality.Cast: Sabrina Greve, Sandra Possani, Brenda Ligia, Giovanna Simões, Rômulo Braga

Alvin’s Harmonious World of Opposites – Director & Screenwriter: Platon Theodoris(Australia/Indonesia) North American PremiereAgoraphobic Alvin prefers stuffed pandas and online shopping to the aggressive rantings of his neighbor Virginia, until the sludge seeping from his ceiling forces him to search for answers in this offbeat comedy with a tender heart.Cast: Teik-Kim Pok, Vashti Hughes, Dessy Fitri, Ailis Logan, Nitin Vengurlekar, Tina Andrews, Alicia O’Donnel

Honey Buddies – Director: Alex Simmons; Screenwriters: Alex Simmons, David Giuntoli, Flula Borg(USA) World PremiereJilted groom David is convinced by his excitable best man Flula to continue with his planned honeymoon, a backcountry trek in the mountains of Oregon, in a highly comedic ode to friendship and the great outdoors.Cast: David Giuntoli, Flula Borg, Brian T. Finney, Claire Coffee, Jeanne Syquia

Last Summer – Director: Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli; Screenwriters: Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli, Igort(Italy) US PremiereSet on board a luxury yacht in sparkling international waters, this tense and stylish drama captures the four final days a mother is granted with her 6-year-old son to say goodbye after losing a custody battle.Cast: Rinko Kikuchi, Yorick van Wageningen, Lucy Griffiths, Laura Bach, Daniel Ball, Ken Brady

The Lesson – Director & Screenwriter: Ruth Platt(UK) North American PremiereA grisly study of the relationship between a tormented teacher and the troubled teens who bear his wrath once he snaps; this morally challenging horror film is dark, claustrophobic, and shockingly eloquent.Cast: Evan Bendall, Robert Hands, Michaela Prchalova, Tom Cox, Rory Coltart, Dolya Gavaniski, Michael Swatton, Charlotte Croft

MAD – Director & Screenwriter: Robert G. Putka(USA) World PremiereA matriarch past the point of a nervous breakdown, her two daughters that don’t give a damn, and the heat-seeking missiles of resentment they toss at each other create a lively backdrop for this dark and dramatic comedy.Cast: Jennifer Lafleur, Maryann Plunkett, Eilis Cahill, Mark Reeb, David Sullivan, Conor Casey, Shaun Weiss, Chris Doubek

Neptune – Director: Derek Kimball; Screenwriters: Derek Kimball, Matthew Konkel(USA)Set in the late 1980s on an island off the coast of Maine, an orphan girl raised by the church becomes obsessed by the disappearance of a classmate, and her haunted dreams and visions propel her to push past her sheltered life.Cast: Jane Ackermann, Tony Reilly, William McDonough III, Christine Louise Marshall, Dylan Chestnutt, Maureen Butler

1ha 43a – Director & Screenwriter: Monika Pirch(Germany) North American PremiereAfter inheriting a plot of farming land near Dusseldorf, Monika explores the potential of her field through administrative, historic and poetic methods and manages to reconnect with the land and her ancestry in a beautiful and unexpected way.

Dead Hands Dig Deep – Director: Jai Love; Screenwriters: Jai Love, Spencer Heath(USA/Australia ) World PremiereFrom the isolation of his secluded desert compound Edwin Borsheim, founder of the shock metal band Kettle Cadaver, ruminates on a life of violence, mayhem and personal destruction lived on the absolute edge of the known musical universe.

Fursonas – Director & Screenwriter: Dominic Rodriguez(USA) World PremiereLike any community, the Furry world is one with gossipers, dreamers, followers, whistleblowers and the one guy who wants to rule them all.

Los Punks; We Are All We Have – Director: Angela Boatwright; Screenwriter: Christine Triano(USA) World PremiereA cobbled-together family of Hispanic youth comprise the thriving backyard punk scene of South Central and East L.A.: bands, fans, and production are interwoven into a sub-culture of thrash, noise and pits.Cast: Gary Alvarez, Nacho Corrupted, April Desmadre, Jennie Oi, Alex Pedorro, Natalie Rodriguera

The Million Dollar Duck – Director: Brian Golden Davis; Screenwriter: Martin J. Smith(USA) World PremiereArtists from different walks of life vie to win the Federal Duck Stamp Contest, the only art competition of its kind sponsored by the U.S. government.Cast: The Hautman Brothers, Rebekah Nastav, Tim Taylor, Dee Dee Murry, Rob McBroom, Adam Grimm

Myrtle Beach – Directors: Neil Rough, Michael Fuller(Canada) World PremiereMyrtle Beach is a disturbingly intimate peek into the lives of the deviants, outcasts and forget-me-nows that inhabit this deformed stepsister of Coney Island.